A comparison of posterior segment optical coherence tomography findings in full-term and preterm children without retinopathy of prematurity.

Purpose: Structural differences have been described in the retina of prematurely born children, including increased macular thickness caused by failed migration of the inner retina during development and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thinning related to low birth weight. The present study aimed to evaluate the differences in macular and RNFL optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings between full-term and preterm children without retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Methods: Thirty-four premature (study group) and 43 full-term patients (control group)-aged 3 to 8 years-were studied. All children underwent a complete ophthalmological exam and OCT of the macula and optic nerve in both eyes to determine macular and RNFL thickness and morphology. Correlation analysis between central macular thickness, age, and visual acuity was also performed. Results: Central macular thickness was greater in the study group than in the control group; a difference of 14.2 µm was observed for the right eye (P = 0.002) and 12.16 µm for the left eye (P = 0.019). The thickness of the parafoveal and the perifoveal zones was consistently greater in the study group. 44.3% of eyes in the study group had mild forms of foveal hypoplasia (grades 1a and 1b) in qualitative description. No correlation between central macular thickness and visual acuity was found. There was no difference in RNFL thickness between both groups. Conclusion: Statistically significant structural differences were found in the macula of premature children, with a greater foveal thickness possibly reflecting retention of the inner retina during development, with no repercussion over visual acuity. RNFL thickness was similar in both groups.

Alteraciones oftalmológicas en una cohorte de niños con antecedente de nacimiento pretérmino en Bogotá, Colombia / Ophthalmologic alterations in a cohort of children with a history of pre-term birth in Bogota, Colombia

Introducción: La prematuridad se asocia con secuelas oftalmológicas graves, como la retinopatía de la prematuridad (RP), pero otras menos reconocidas incluyen una menor agudeza visual y una mayor frecuencia de defectos refractivos y estrabismo. Objetivo: Describir las alteraciones oftalmológicas encontradas en una cohorte de niños de entre 3 y 8 años con antecedente de prematuridad. Método: Estudio de cohorte prospectiva que incluyó 62 pacientes del programa canguro del Hospital Militar Central (Bogotá). Se registraron antecedentes perinatales y se realizó valoración oftalmológica completa. Se determinaron prevalencias de baja agudeza visual, defectos refractivos y estrabismo, y se compararon subgrupos según peso y edad gestacional. Resultados: La prevalencia de RP fue del 1.61%, correspondiente a una paciente ciega con estadio V. Esta cifra fue significativamente más baja que la reportada en otros estudios, pero concordante con la frecuencia esperada para RP grave. El 10.48% tenían agudezas visuales < 20/40, incluyendo dos pacientes con no percepción de luz y no fija, no sigue, no mantiene, como secuelas de RP y alteraciones neurológicas, pertenecientes al subgrupo de prematuridad extrema, con significancia estadística. Se encontraron unas prevalencias del 87.09% para hipermetropía, el 6.14% para miopía y el 62.9% para astigmatismo. La menor frecuencia de miopía se debe posiblemente al bajo número de pacientes con RP. La prevalencia de estrabismo fue del 30.65%, siendo más frecuente la exotropía, con un 20.97%, sin diferencias en el análisis por subgrupos. Conclusiones: La morbilidad oftalmológica es una secuela importante de la prematuridad. Un porcentaje considerable tendrá baja agudeza visual, debido a defectos refractivos, estrabismo, alteraciones neurológicas y RP, la cual sigue siendo una importante causa de ceguera infanti

Introduction: Pre-term birth is associated with serious ophthalmic sequelae like retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), but other less recognized include decreased visual acuity, and higher frequency of refractive errors and strabismus. Objective: Describe ophthalmological alterations found in a cohort of children between 3 to 5 years of age with a history of preterm birth. Method: Prospective cohort study, including 62 patients from kangaroo mother care program in Central Military Hospital (Bogotá). Perinatal factors were registered and complete ophthalmic examination was performed. Prevalence of low visual acuity, refractive errors and strabismus were determined, and groups according to birth weight and gestational age were compared. Results: Prevalence of RP was 1.61%, corresponding to a blind patient with stage V disease, this is considerably lower than that reported in other studies, but consistent with expected frequency for severe RP. 10.48% of eyes had visual acuity worse than 20/40, including 2 patients with NLP and NFNSNM, secondary to RP and neurologic alterations, who belong to the extreme preterm subgroup, with statistical significance. Prevalence of 87.09% were found for hyperopia, 6.14% for myopia and 62.9% for astigmatism. Lesser frequency of myopia is possibly due to the low number of patients with RP. Prevalence of strabismus was 30.65%, being exotropia the most common deviation with 20.97%, with no difference in subgroup analysis. Conclusions: Ophthalmic morbidity is an important sequel of prematurity. A considerable percentage will have low visual acuity secondary to refractive errors, strabismus, neurological alterations, and RP, which remains a major cause of childhood blindness